mechanical engineering design

input/output

Omit needless words," advises William Strunk in his writing guide, The Elements of Style. "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

Designs, too, reach the point where there's nothing to add or delete.

This ordinary tumbler would seem to be nearly flawless. It's balanced. It holds more than a mouthful. It fits the hand. It cleans without fuss. It resists tipping, scratching, or dulling. Its clear sides are made of a common material that reveals its contents. It holds hot liquids or cold ones. It doesn't taint the beverage. It reveals when it's unfit for use. It recycles.

Yet, the notion that there's something still to add, change, or remove from a perfectly serviceable design, intrigues us.

Bend the stem and you create a glass that's both naturally unbalanced and sure to make the user question his own ability to drive without getting pulled over.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days." With these glasses, there's no chance your guests will hang around long enough to be a nuisance.

Remove the base, and you remove any chance that guests can set the glass down until its empty. So, no misplaced glasses, no flat champagne, and—best of all—no guests lingering with that last drink sitting next to them.

Old Ben would have loved these champagne flutes.

Round off the bottom, and you create a virtual lava lamp for your whiskey. The perpetual swirling sets the spirits' bouquet free, and gives you something to watch when the party chatter runs dry.

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© 2005 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers